Journal article
Cerebellar Cortex Granular Layer Interneurons in the Macaque Monkey AAe Functionally Driven by Mossy Fiber Pathways through Net Excitation or Inhibition
PloS one, Vol.8(12), 82239
12/20/2013
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0082239
PMCID: PMC3869689
PMID: 24376524
Abstract
The granular layer is the input layer of the cerebellar cortex. It receives information through mossy fibers, which contact local granular layer interneurons (GLIs) and granular layer output neurons (granule cells). GLIs provide one of the first signal processing stages in the cerebellar cortex by exciting or inhibiting granule cells. Despite the importance of this early processing stage for later cerebellar computations, the responses of GLIs and the functional connections of mossy fibers with GLIs in awake animals are poorly understood. Here, we recorded Gus and mossy fibers in the macaque ventral-paraflocculus (VPFL) during oculomotor tasks, providing the first full inventory of GLI responses in the VPFL of awake primates. We found that while mossy fiber responses are characterized by a linear monotonic relationship between firing rate and eye position, GLIs show complex response profiles characterized by "eye position fields" and single or double directional tunings. For the majority of GLIs, prominent features of their responses can be explained by assuming that a single GLI receives inputs from mossy fibers with similar or opposite directional preferences, and that these mossy fiber inputs influence GLI discharge through net excitatory or inhibitory pathways. Importantly, GLIs receiving mossy fiber inputs through these putative excitatory and inhibitory pathways show different firing properties, suggesting that they indeed correspond to two distinct classes of interneurons. We propose a new interpretation of the information flow through the cerebellar cortex granular layer, in which mossy fiber input patterns drive the responses of GLIs not only through excitatory but also through net inhibitory pathways, and that excited and inhibited GLIs can be identified based on their responses and their intrinsic properties.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Cerebellar Cortex Granular Layer Interneurons in the Macaque Monkey AAe Functionally Driven by Mossy Fiber Pathways through Net Excitation or Inhibition
- Creators
- Jean Laurens - Washington University in St. LouisShane A. Heiney - University of PennsylvaniaGyutae Kim - Washington Univ, Sch Med, Dept Otolaryngol, St Louis, MO 63110 USAPablo M. Blazquez - Washington University in St. Louis
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- PloS one, Vol.8(12), 82239
- Publisher
- Public Library Science
- DOI
- 10.1371/journal.pone.0082239
- PMID
- 24376524
- PMCID
- PMC3869689
- ISSN
- 1932-6203
- eISSN
- 1932-6203
- Number of pages
- 12
- Grant note
- R01NS065099 / NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS AND STROKE; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH National Institute of Neurological Disorders & Stroke (NINDS) R01-N5065099 / NIH; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 12/20/2013
- Academic Unit
- Iowa Neuroscience Institute; Neuroscience and Pharmacology
- Record Identifier
- 9984622759802771
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